Wood Science Characteristics of Timber from Pine Deadwood Trees (<i>Pinus sylvestris L.</i>)

Abstract

During the last decade, the drying up of medieval, arriving and mature stands of pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), which is the dominant breed in domestic forests (33% of the total area, about 45% of the volume of logging), acquired a threatening scale in Ukraine. Dated 2019, the total area of arable crops has reached 413 thousand hectares (of which pines - 222 thousand hectares), or about 4% of the area of the forest fund of Ukraine. One of the main and most effective means of preventing the widespread pathological processes in forests, which cause their drying, is sanitary and other felling of forest care. As a result, a significant amount of untreated low-quality timber, which is classified as deadwood is formed. Timber from deadwood trees is characterized by features such as mycological and insecticidal lesions, cracks, etc., the impact of which on the strength and operational characteristics of timber products has not yet been studied. The interest of using of the wood in the construction as a material from renewable eco-friendly raw materials has traditionally increased. One of the possible uses pine deadwood trees may be the production of structural lumber. The lack of timber characteristics of such timber makes it impossible to predict its behavior during processing and operation and, accordingly, complicates the determination of directions of its rational use, especially in structures. The significantly lower cost of timber from pine deadwood trees, compared with timber from non-attenuated drying out pine trees, is an attractive feature of such raw materials from an economic aspect.